Ken Jennings Reveals Touching ‘Jeopardy!’ Tradition From Alex Trebek

The Canadian-American TV host died in November 2020 on the age of 80 after a public battle with pancreatic most cancers.

Ken Jennings has made it no secret that he’s a giant fan of science fiction, which is why he attended the TCM Traditional Movie Pageant opening evening screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again on April 24. On the occasion, he instructed PEOPLE magazine about how “difficult” it was to step into the late host’s sneakers.

“It was very difficult after Alex handed as a result of, in fact, all of us missed him,” he defined. “Nobody had seen anyone else host Jeopardy for practically 40 years. It was a tough adjustment, and I did not wish to be there.”

“I needed Alex – like he was my man, however fortunately I had seen him host sufficient that I sort of had this inside sense of what he would do right here, and that is actually the one factor that acquired me by means of,” he continued. “And some years on, I’ve gotten sufficient reps that I really feel a little bit extra comfy on the market.”

Jennings was then requested if he needed to modify something up and make it completely different from the best way Alex Trebek did. Nonetheless, he stated that the producers observe a “very tight format” and famous that they’re serving a “tradition-observant viewers” and a “change-resistant viewers” that will not like him messing with the best way Alex did issues an excessive amount of.

“So I do not assume anyone immediately desires to…What wouldn’t it even be? A catchphrase? ‘Jennings out!’?” he joked. “I feel Ryan [Seacrest]’s doing Wheel [of Fortune] now, so there’s unlikely to be large modifications on my watch,” he added. “I am a fan initially. I wish to see the Jeopardy I grew up on.”

The format of the present is unlikely to vary, and plainly one dressing room custom inherited from Alex Trebek is just not going to vary both. Jennings defined that Alex was a giant outdated film fan, so Trebek all the time had TCM (Turner Traditional Films) within the dressing room earlier than the present.

“From my childhood on, and it is a part of our Jeopardy! custom as a result of Alex all the time had TCM on within the dressing room, and that is one thing I am gladly conserving going,” Jennings revealed, noting that he’s “completely” additionally a fan of outdated motion pictures, similar to Trebek was.

Alex Trebek revealed that he had been identified with pancreatic most cancers in 2019 and handed away the next yr. On November 8, 2024, the fourth anniversary of his loss of life, Jennings took to Instagram to share a candy reminiscence of the late host.

“As we speak, on the anniversary of his passing, I have been pondering lots in regards to the final time I ever got here right here to look at him host,” he shared. “It was shortly earlier than the pandemic, and he had introduced his most cancers analysis, and he truly requested if I might come backstage. And I used to be a little bit bit apprehensive about this. I might by no means been to his dressing room, as a contestant.”

“He wasn’t feeling nice that day,” he continued. “Usually he would look and sound implausible whereas doing the present, however he wasn’t in the most effective form backstage, however he greeted me warmly, and I requested how he was doing, and I used to be actually touched by how emotional he was in regards to the outpouring of affection he was getting from Jeopardy followers.”